Social Media Research

                                  Spring 2022 Thursday 14:00 AVC


Lecturer: Tae-Sik Kim, PhD

Office Hour: Wed 16:00 – 17:00 & Thu 10:00 – 14:00

Contact Information: beinkid@mail.muni.cz Office. 5. 50

Ø Course Objectives

This course examines the sociocultural impacts of social media, the most advanced form of human
communicative technology. Grounded in the understanding of the relationship between technology and
society, this course looks closely at technological features of social media as well as the
cultural consequences of mediated interactions among people. The course then turns to particular
issues in relation to the uses of social media. By reading a variety of research articles assigned
in the course and participating in class discussions, students learn to develop their own research
projects focusing on social media and its sociocultural impacts.

§  Comprehend the relationship between technology and society.

§  Understand various social impacts of social media.

§  Review and analyze a variety of research articles on social media.

§  Find important themes and methods of social media research

§  Lead insightful discussions.

§  Develop a research project by applying sociocultural experiences.


Ø Syllabus

Week 1. Course introduction

Week 2. Technology and culture

Week 3. What is Social Media?

Week 4. Qualitative Research Online (First Response Paper Due: 13 March)

Week 5. Journalism & Politics in the age of Social Media

Week 6. Social (media) Activism

Week 7. Reading Week

Week 8. Social Media and Cultural Capitalism (Second Response Paper Due: 10 April)

Week 9.  Social Media Platform Capitalism

Week 10. Research Consultations

Week 11. Social Media and Visual Communication

Week 12. Social Media and Cultural Identity  (Third Response Paper Due: 8. May)

Week 13. Class Conference


Ø Teaching Methods

The format of the course is a combination of brief lectures and controlled discussions of various
assigned readings.

All students are expected to read all articles assigned and to develop appropriate discussion
questions. Each student is a discussion leader for an assigned week.

Students submit a research paper (topic of student’s choice in consultation with instructor;
minimum 20 pages including references, figures, and tables).

Ø Assessment Methods

·         Attendance: 3 unexcused absences during a semester shall be denied academic credit

v  Essay (150 x 3 = 450)

ü  Essay on related topics with 2 discussion questions.

ü Due dates are indicated above

ü No Late Paper Accepted

·         One Discussion Leader (150)

·         Research Paper (400): Due- 10 June. 2022 (Late Paper – Subtract 5% for each day after the
due date)

Total: 1000

A: 900-1000  B: 800-899  C: 700-799  D: 600-699  E: 500-599  F:       -499

Ø Study Materials

Week 2. Technology and culture

·         McLuhan, M. “Understanding Media” Introduction, Chapter 1, and 2

·         Mumford, L. “Technics and Civilization” Introduction and Chapter 1


Week 3. What is Social Media

·         Boyd, D. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University
Press. Introduction, CHAPTER 1 & 2  (- p 76)

·         Burkell, J., Fortier, A., Wong, L. L. Y. C., & Simpson, J. L. (2014). Facebook: Public
space, or private space?. Information, Communication & Society, 17(8), 974-985


Week 4. Qualitative Research Online

·         Gerber, H. R., et. al. (2017). Conducting Qualitative Research of Learning in Online
Space. Chapter 1 & 6


Week 5. Journalism & Politics in the age of Social Media

·         Sunstein, C. R. (2018). # Republic: Divided democracy in the age of social media.
Princeton University Press. CHAPTER 3 & 4


·         Mele, N., Lazer, D., Baum, M., Grinberg, N., Friedland, L., Joseph, K., ... & Mattsson,
C. (2017). Combating Fake News: An Agenda for Research and Action.


Week 6. Social (media) Activism

·         Marcks, H., & Pawelz, J. (2020). From Myths of Victimhood to Fantasies of Violence: How
Far-Right Narratives of Imperilment Work. Terrorism and Political Violence, 1-18.

·         Agur, C., & Frisch, N. (2019). Digital disobedience and the limits of persuasion: Social
media activism in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. Social Media+ Society, 5(1),
2056305119827002.


Week 8. Social Media and Cultural Capitalism

·         Polson, E, (2016). Privileged Mobilities. Peter Lang. P1-52

Week 9. Social Media Platform Capitalism

·         Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform Capitalism. Verso.  Pp 1-92.


Week 11. Social Media and Visual Communication

·         Baulch, E., & Pramiyanti, A. (2018). Hijabers on Instagram: Using visual social media to
construct the ideal Muslim woman. Social Media+ Society, 4(4), 2056305118800308.

·         Kim, T-S. (2015) Defining the Occupy Movement: Visual Analysis of Facebook Profile Images
Posted by Local Occupy Movement Group, Visual Communication Quarterly, 22(3), 174-186

Week 12. Social Media and Cultural Identity

·         Hatef, A. (2022). “The Facebook is a state of Roma”: Negotiating identities, building
communities, and belongingness online among Roma in the Czech Republic, New Media and Society.

·         Kim, T. S. (2016). Transnational communication practices of unaccompanied young Korean
students in the United States. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 25(2), 148-167.